"Why is that?" Robin recited as indifferently and as unemotionally as he could to the image of himself being reflected off of the surface of a small pond near the Shepherds' camp. As far as he knew, he was the only one there, with no one member of the Shepherds who could possibly bear witness to perfectly discern what he was doing, even if they wanted to, for which he was thankful for, because despite how serious his reasons were for doing this, he still knew that if he were to look at himself right now, he'd look like he had gone positively mad. After all, what other reason could there have possibly been to explain why the Shepherds' down-to-earth tactician was suddenly talking to his own reflection, all while impersonating Ananias' tone of voice to boot.
Robin released a low growl of frustration. "No, that's not it," he muttered. He then proceeded to clear his throat and give his impersonation of the emotionless male trickster another shot. "Why is that?" he asked his reflection in the best possible Ananias voice and facial expressions he could muster. After staring at his reflection for a little bit, Robin heaved a defeated sigh, before unintentionally saying aloud, "What am I doing wrong?"
"Nothing really," a familiar voice said from behind him. Robin gasped as he turned around to see that the very person he was attempting to impersonate had come to give the tactician a little bit of company. "You just need some more practice is all," Ananias said, immediately realizing that the tactician was trying to imitate him, because, in all honesty, who else in all of the land spoke the way Robin seemed to be trying to impersonate? A failed actor or actress?
Robin sighed as Ananias situated himself beside him. "Easy for you to say," Robin said sullenly. "It must be so natural for you."
Ananias shrugged his shoulders casually. "Maybe," he admitted. "But no one exactly gets to where they are without putting a little bit of effort into it, you know?"
Robin chuckled good-naturedly. "Yes, you certainly have a point there." After a somewhat awkward, but somewhat welcome silence, Robin asked, "So, tell me, what has possessed a practical man like yourself to come and give company to a man who has gone so mad that he is talking to himself in the aim to look and sound as… calm as possible?"
Ananias indicated towards the camp with his thumb. "Dinner's ready. I was just sent to tell you."
Robin frowned upon hearing the disappointing and unexciting truth of the matter. "Oh," he said, and the two once more fell into an awkward silence.
It was then that a sudden idea came to the tactical amnesiac. He quickly stood up, brushed some of the dirt off of his robes, and turned to his red adorned ally. "Forgive me for this," he said, earning him a somewhat strange look from Ananias. He then took a deep breath before committing himself to what he was about to do and did it.
He stomped on Ananias' foot as hard as he possibly could, earning him a surprised and pain-filled yelp from Ananias, who clutched his foot and began rubbing it tenderly, shaking some of the pain off for good measure, before looking at the tactician with a somewhat hurt expression and monotonously and calmly asking, "What was that for?"
Robin's eyes widened in surprise at what had just happened. "How is that any different than from how I reacted?" he asked incredulously, crossing his arms as he prepared himself to listen to a possible hypocrite's possible excuse.
Ananias sighed as he realized what exactly was going on between the two of them. "It's not what you said that was the issue," Ananias calmly explained, as he continued to attempt to shake off some of the pain from his foot (apparently, Robin had one heck of a stomp). "It's the way you said it. It was still a bit too forceful."
"Well forgive me for saying this," Robin said, as calmly as he could, "but I fail to see how anyone can speak so calmly and without any force after having one of their feet being stomped on for no good reason."
Ananias thought about it for a moment, before giving Robin's statement a small, acknowledging nod. "Yeah, I guess you have a point there," he admitted. He then thought the tactician's concern, argument, and predicament over as he tried to come up with a satisfactory answer and solution to said concern, argument, and predicament. When one finally came, Ananias simply shrugged, before nonchalantly saying, "Maybe it's a pride thing."
One of Robin's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "A… pride thing, you say?"
Ananias nodded. "Yeah. You think so highly of yourself that you feel that you deserve, at least, an explanation for happened to you."
Robin's shock and surprise didn't seem to waver one bit. "And how is that any different from what you were asking me when I stomped on your foot?" he asked.
Ananias calmly shook his head as he raised his hand up in an attempt to calm the incredulous tactician down. "You're not listening carefully enough," Ananias gently explained. "You're asking because you think you DESERVE and explanation, so your tone of voice has a slight edge to it. I'm asking because I'm ASKING for an explanation. I don't think I deserve the explanation. I just hope that you're willing to give me one, that's all." He then nonchalantly shrugged, and added, "You know, it's a humbleness thing."
Robin was stunned at his friend's explanation. He held his chin as he pondered over what he had just heard. "A matter of pride and humbleness, huh?" he murmured to himself. He then turned to Ananias and said, "Well, whether that is true or not, that is certainly something to think about." He smiled. "Thank you Ananias. I appear to be learning more from you than I had initially thought I would."
Ananias simply shrugged. "Don't mention it," he said. He then pointed back at the Shepherds' camp. "Should we start heading back now? Because, you know, dinner and all that."
Robin chuckled. "You go on ahead. I've got a lot to think about."
Realizing that Robin was not going to budge in the slightest, Ananias simply nodded his head understandingly and made his way back to camp.
Robin watched Ananias leave for dinner for a few seconds before glancing down at his reflection off of the surface of the pond one last time. "Prideful, am I?" he murmured to himself. He then pondered over it before giving himself an acknowledging nod. "Yes, I guess I can certainly act a bit entitled at times." He chuckled to himself. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to pay more attention to keep this pride of mine in check now, haven't I?" He then nodded his head affirmatively and understandably to his own reflection before taking his leave, hoping to Naga that Sully hadn't been the one assigned to cook the dinner for tonight.
